Poll: Do you automatically respect people in the military?
- Thread starter Xan Krieger
- Start date
Are the majority of people who go shooting at targets "legal mass murderers"?Arfonious said:
Are the majority of the police forces in the US "legal murderers"?
That sounds really weird to me.
Don't be silly. Some people go through their military career fixing bridges and blowing bridges up or jumping out of of aeroplanes and teaching people to do the same thing, all without ever firing a shot at someone or even having a shot fired at them, yet because they hold a gun in their profession they are 'legal mass murderers'?
You have interesting views of the world.
Dude, I think I saw this and you were awesome. Did this involve a Rambo figure?Xan Krieger said:
Not really what I meant. Sure it's not every solider that kills someone, but soliders are basicly the only ones that get away with mass murder or even get rewarded for it.AngloDoom said:
It's because their job is holding a gun not because they are holding a gun in their job.
It's still just as ridiculous to suggest that all soldiers are X because some soliders have done Y.Arfonious said:
The police in the US are trained to shoot people and are rewarded for shooting people in the correct circumstances: I still don't see what the difference between them and soldiers are.
Or the UK firearms division, which basically exclusively deal with crimes which require guns to be pointed at people, why are they not 'mass murderers' by extension?
Nope. Sure they fight and are willing to lay down their lives in the name of "freedom" but I'm not respecting people on that fact alone. You have to do something individually to earn my respect, not just be part of a group.
I never stated that all soliders are mass murderers, only that their job allows them to and really is about murder.AngloDoom said:
A soliders role is to destroy the countrys enemies. You can't deny that their job isn't about violence.
The police are different, their role is to protect the people.
I never stated that all soliders are mass murderers, only that their job allows them to and really is about murder.Arfonious said:
A soliders role is to destroy the countrys enemies. You can't deny that their job isn't about violence.
The police are different, their role is to protect the people.[/quote]
Actually, all you stated (after someone said that not all soldiers are mass murders) is "So the majority of soliders aren't trained for battle?" This implied that it was their training made them mass murderers, but I imagine this wasn't what you wanted to get across so we'll just pop that aside for now.
Is a soldier's role to destroy the country's enemies? What about soldiers who work in their home country, who are they 'destroying'? You could just as easily say that the police exist to murder while skipping over the parts where they do things not directly involved with shooting people.
The soldier's role could be argued to 'protect the people' and I'm sure someone could find a good argument to suggest that the police doing things such as arresting drunks and breaking up large groups of 'loiterers' aren't doing much in the way of protecting people.
. Someone in the military is necessarily a front-line soldier and engineers, catering staff, medical staff, hell even officers filing paperwork are probably less likely to end up shooting someone than a police officer working in the slums.
I don't deny the job is about violence: I just have a great distaste for generalisations.
Sweeping statements are very easy to make, very hard to back up.
Sadly no but that character is a great example of how we elevate soldiers to superhuman levels and glorify war. I wish more people would understand that war isn't glorious, the whole goal isn't to wave a flag while standing over a pile of dead enemies, it's to make it home with all of your limbs and organs intact. That's another subject for another time though.Weentastic said:
I respect people for what they have done, not for what they wear.
Soldier = person. Person I do not know = person I have no reason to respect.
And "but they put their lives on the line for what they think is right nd just!". Well, so do Al Qaeda members, and I sure as hell don't respect those just because they're willing to risk death for what they believe to be a just cause.
Soldier = person. Person I do not know = person I have no reason to respect.
And "but they put their lives on the line for what they think is right nd just!". Well, so do Al Qaeda members, and I sure as hell don't respect those just because they're willing to risk death for what they believe to be a just cause.
I have a lot of past/present military types in my family, and some of them have been very successful at it, but I've seen them all do too many stupid things for me to automatically make any sort of moral judgment about a military person
No, and in fact, until there is another madman trying to take over the world (that isn't from the US) I downright disrespect people in the military. 99% of them joined for the free ride they get throughout life if they serve for 2-4 years. The awesome healthcare, part of you military wages for life (even if you do nothing else,) free college to name a few.
What about Iraq, the war on terror, etc etc? Sure, I feel for the dudes that have to stick it out in that wasteland, but lets be honest here... there isn't a war going on. Its oppression and we're the oppressors. And even then most military personnel don't even have to go there at all.
My tax dollars pay for all these benefits these people supposedly earned so they are no better than welfare rats in my eyes.
What about Iraq, the war on terror, etc etc? Sure, I feel for the dudes that have to stick it out in that wasteland, but lets be honest here... there isn't a war going on. Its oppression and we're the oppressors. And even then most military personnel don't even have to go there at all.
My tax dollars pay for all these benefits these people supposedly earned so they are no better than welfare rats in my eyes.
I tend to be skeptical about respecting things 'just because they are'. However, I find that the military usually helps shape people in beneficial ways. Not necessarily always, but a lot of soldiers here seem like bright people. Albeit, I do know some guys who got drafted, and they're still the hooting douchebags they used to be.
TL;DR: No. You want my respect, be a good human being.
TL;DR: No. You want my respect, be a good human being.
yes i do. they go through hard training and do a job that they could get killed but its more than that they also have to kill, to live with having killed other people who most-likely volunteered to fight like them, many have to live with causing the death of innocent people. not to mention all the stuff they do is for a govermnet which means any sady busness they wont to do in on the solders hands.
so yeah i have a lot of respect, i find it weird that so many people withhold there respect as if they are trying to prove something or show that they dont feel what people do in the military is not as bad as it is.
so yeah i have a lot of respect, i find it weird that so many people withhold there respect as if they are trying to prove something or show that they dont feel what people do in the military is not as bad as it is.
Being in the military doesn't automatically eliminate whatever faults a person my have. Hell, most of the people from my high school who joined the military (and stayed in the military) are kind of assholes. My opinion of them hasn't changed just because they wear a uniform.
I respect what people in the military do. That doesn't necessarily extend to unconditionally respecting people for who they are. I know plenty of people in the military who I do respect, but it isn't just because they're in the military.
I respect what people in the military do. That doesn't necessarily extend to unconditionally respecting people for who they are. I know plenty of people in the military who I do respect, but it isn't just because they're in the military.
